Cruz: I’m ‘something that is not supposed to exist: a Hispanic Republican’

“The policies of Barack Obama did even more damage in minority communities than they did across the country,” he said. “Under Obama, Hispanic unemployment climbed over 10 percent, African-American unemployment climbed over 14 percent, and yet we did an incredibly poor job articulating the message of opportunity.”

Cruz also noted that, often, conservatives are uncomfortable discussing anything class or race-related, noting that he is “something that is not supposed to exist: a Hispanic Republican.”

The Texan counseled, however, that “the policies of the left do not work.”

Throughout the speech Cruz offered up bits of conservative red meat, questioning George Stephanopoulos moderating a GOP presidential primary debate; taking jabs at Obama’s false assertion during the third debate that bayonets are obsolete; and throwing quotes from Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and the founders around as if he had just spoken with them.

Cruz closed with his family’s struggles in Cuba and coming-to-America story. His father arrived in Texas in the late 1950s with $100 sewn in his underwear, not knowing a bit of English.

“You know what I find most extraordinary about his story? How commonplace it is. Every one of us in this room has a story just like it, whether it is us, or our parents, or our great great grandparents. We are a nation where we are the children of those who made an epic journey to freedom. That is the legacy of this country.”